"The G-10
Commission has issued the government an ultimatum. Either the members of the
intelligence oversight committee, which have been holding closed-door meetings,
are given access to the list of potentially-illegal NSA selectors [search
terms], or they will not authorize additional monitoring activities by German
foreign intelligence. … The very fact that something involving the G-10
Commission is being publicly disclosed speaks to the great frustration among
Commission members. They clearly feel that they've been hoodwinked by both the
federal government and the BND."

-- According to SüddeutscheZeitung sources,
members of the G-10 Commission have given the federal government an ultimatum.

-- The supervisory
body demands access to the list of potentially illegal selectors [search terms]
from the American intelligence agency, the NSA.

-- Unless the demand
is met, the G-10 Commission will no longer approve any monitoring activities by
German foreign intelligence [the Bundesnachrichtendienst].

-- Since March, the
Bundesnachrichtendienst [BND] has been aware that the NSA apparently used the
BND to run questionable search terms on BND computers.

There may be hard times ahead for the BND. According to SüddeutscheZeitung sources,
the G-10
Commission has issued the federal government an ultimatum. Either the
members of the intelligence oversight committee are given access to the list of potentially-illegal
selectors [search terms], or they will not authorize additional monitoring
activities by German foreign intelligence.

At least, according to SüddeutscheZeitung sources, this was one of the
options mentioned should the deadline pass without anything happening at a meeting of the G-10 Commission and government
representatives. This is
also being reported by Die Welt [The deadline was June 3. As far as we know, the selector list was not handed over].

Possible legal steps within the context of a constitutional
challenge before the Federal Constitutional Court were also reportedly
discussed at the meeting. The G-10 Commission, comprised of Bundestag
appointees, [among other things], reviews and authorizes German intelligence
wiretapping operations. For this the Commission issues so-called "G-10 authorizations."
These are always required when the fundamental rights of German citizens are at
risk of infringement by intelligence service activity.

European Companies in
its Sights

Since [at least] March, the BND has been aware that the NSA apparently
used the BND to run questionable selectors on BND computers. Thousands of these
selectors allegedly relate to European companies in which Germany participates,
such as EADS, Eurocopter, as well as European
ministries. Consequently, German citizens, or to use the jargon, legal entities
with fundamental G-10 rights, may have been affected. In this case, under the
current interpretation of the law, a G-10 authorization would have been
mandatory.

The very fact that something involving the G-10 Commission
is being publicly disclosed speaks to the great frustration among Commission
members. They clearly feel that they've been hoodwinked by both the federal
government and the BND.

G-10 Authorization
was Just a Means to an End

In addition, a lack of open communication with the committee
was established practice at the BND: For example, the BND routinely requested
G-10 authorizations for wiretapping in Germany with the goal of monitoring data
traffic between two foreign countries - without, however, informing the
commission of the agency’s actual objective, which was to capture the entirety
of data traffic to and from the foreign country on that particular cable. The
G-10 authorization was just a means to an end, as BND Chief Gerhard Schindler
clearly said during his interview before the NSA Committee of Inquiry.

According to Social
Democratic Party plans, oversight of the intelligence agencies will now be
strengthened through legislation. Specifically, citizens of E.U. countries are
to receive special protection. It is unclear whether and how the fundamental
rights of non-E.U. foreigners are to be protected since, according to former
Federal Constitutional Court President Hans-JürgenPapier, a number of elementary fundamental rights, such as
the right to privacy in telecommunications, are not limited to those with a
particular citizenship. Rather, they apply to all people.